ZT 801 S110V Sprint

Truthfully I love my 0801, but that one doesn't do it for me. Too....plain. I also hate the way they did the blade stamp in the middle of the blade like that, the original looks so much better (in my personal point of view).

I've never used S110V, but is it THAT much better then Elmax?
 
Fugly. Love my 0801, but those plain handles just don't do it for me. S110V or no.
 
I will agree with others. It is way too plain for me. The original handle is much better IMO.
 
TBL said:
Truthfully I love my 0801, but that one doesn't do it for me. Too....plain. I also hate the way they did the blade stamp in the middle of the blade like that, the original looks so much better (in my personal point of view).

I've never used S110V, but is it THAT much better then Elmax?
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S110V is one of those steels that in my opinion you need to know more about the HT before you really decide if it's good for you or not.
Generally, it will have superior edge retention to Elmax, to a very notable degree, and will have much greater wear resistance. On the flip side of it, the steel ends up much more prone to chipping, though it is still easy to take care of and normal use won't chip it extremelty easily (most stainless steels are much more prone to chipping than Elmax really, so its not much bellow the average).
It is excellent for holding an edge, outclassing even M390 and S90V, while still being relatively easy to sharpen (with experience and proper tools). It is still harder to sharpen than M390 in my experience, but much easier than S90V, and it will take a polished edge quite well. It also maintains very fine grain structure, though not as fine as M390.

Depending on how the HT is done, it can be a steel that holds an edge much longer than most, and with a proper treatment, it can maintain a good amount of toughness as well, making it a very good cutter.
It also maintains good corrosion resistance, and overall performs very well.

The downside of it, and the reason it is often so expensive, is because it is very difficult to machine. Not as hard as S90V, but we've seen before how much the change in steel of the BM 940 added to the cost. Carbon Fiber is not expensive enough to add that much cost at all, and I'm pretty sure on the 940-1 they added it partly to make the high cost due to machining look a little mor manageable than leaving the handles aluminum.
S110V ground by hand eats through belts insanely fast from what I've seen, and I know that using automated machines isn't much better.
 
On the knife as a whole,
I kind of like the cleaner look, at least without the big ZERO TOLERANCE in the middle of the milling in the handles, but it definitely looks like they saved on the milling in the titanium to make up for additional costs in the steel.

Might be fun for a knife mod, but not my cup of tea really. I like the steel, but honestly not sure how well ZT does with their methods for S110V, and since the only other knife I know of that they used it in was the 0888, I bought many people have much experience at all using the steel from them.
 
TBL said:
Very interesting! Thanks for the additional info Charr!
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No problem!

I love learning about steels, so I do like to see offerings like this that use a well-established design to offer a bit more vairety to the steel we have to choose from.
The Para2 is another good example, but good luck getting many of the sprints ;)

I'd love to get my hands on them, proflie them the same way, and then use them to test wome stuff out.
 
You guys are making me second guess buying one! I don't have a regular 801 and I have a thing for sprint runs and super steels so I bought one. If I don't like it, I'm sure I won't have any trouble selling it for what I paid. Also, I like the smooth handles, I think they make it look pretty classy. I was handling my friends regular 801 last night and the action was so smooth!
 
K.O.D. said:
Fugly. Love my 0801, but those plain handles just don't do it for me. S110V or no.
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I'm also ambivalent where the new ZT Ti handles are concerned. They're OK on a knife that has an interesting blade shape like the new Les George collab, but they pretty much leave me cold on the 0450 and the 0801S110.
 
I'm really tempted to jump on this, but I'm not so sure yet. If it's $50 cheaper then I'll be all over it. I like how there's not the big fat ZT stamped on the blade. I do also like how clean it looks, but I think just a few milled lines like TAD style or something would really add to it. S110V is great, but I'm with you guys about the big price hike. IMO the stonewash looks more aggressive than usual and I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I can see it being a pretty decent platform for pimping.
 
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bld522 said:
Yep. It would look pretty dandy with a CF scale on it. ;)
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I was thinking the same thing.... get one, then just swap the blades, and anodize the plain looking handle a dark color.

but for $280 + shipping and exchange...mmmm I'll have to pass :(
 
bld522 said:
I'm also ambivalent where the new ZT Ti handles are concerned. They're OK on a knife that has an interesting blade shape like the new Les George collab, but they pretty much leave me cold on 0450 and the 0801S110.
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See I don't think I like them on the 0801, but I do think I like them on the 0450. Not sure why. Might be because of the family resemblance to the Shirogorov designs.
I also like the feel of flat stonewashed Ti WAY more than soemthing like the machined feel of the 0801. I liked the grooves, but the fine blasted finish they left on the handles just didn't do it for me.

I think overall the 0801S110V is in a little bit of a weird spot for most collectors. It is prime in design for some really nice modification, but most people won't want to spend $300 on a knife just to spend another $200 on it. I wouldn't even mind paying $400 for a knife with some milling and a bit more refinement in the design and the form (like the 0801 Copperhead was), but this one will fall short of actually ending up on my list.

I might see if my friends want to get one though. That way I could at least learn more about the treatment ZT uses on their S110V.

I appreciate their effort and the idea for this one, but I just think they could've done better with it.

EDIT: The price difference between the 0450 and 0801S110V makes up for the handles a lot also. Almost forgot to mention that...
 
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To most users, there won't be a noticeable difference in steel performance. This is definitely one for the steel snobs.
 
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